Historian Robin D.G. Kelley on asking questions and not trying to be famous

August 22, 2016

Aaron Salcido/Zocalo Public Square

Robin D.G. Kelley is the Gary B. Nash Professor of American History at UCLA and the author of several books, including “Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original” (2010, Free Press) and “Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination” (2003, Beacon Press). Before participating in the UCLA/Zócalo Public Square panel discussion There's a Difference Between Riots and Rebellion” he took part in a candid interview in the Zócalo green room.

Who’s your favorite person with the name Robin?

Robin Givhan. She’s a writer for the Washington Post and a friend from way back when I lived in Michigan.

You held the Harmsworth Chair of American History at the University of Oxford. What’s one of your favorite cultural differences between the U.S. and the U.K.?

I have one good and one bad. The bad is that they don’t believe in turning on the heat. The good is that at Oxford, at least, they still have the commons. The fact that there’s still a tradition of communing is a spectacular thing.

What advice do you give students who are thinking about going into academia?

Make your intellectual choices according to your loves and political interests. Don’t follow trends. Don’t try to be famous. Do the work even if it’s unpopular.

What’s one of your favorite things to do in Los Angeles?

Not drive. I like to walk in the sunshine all year.

If you could meet any musician tomorrow, living or dead—besides Thelonious Monk —which musician would you choose?